Our church held a Harvest Festival in place of halloween 2 weeks ago and used the event to highlight the missionaries and initiatives of the church. For the first time Allison and I set up an event booth. We had a lot of people come by and talk with us, many asking to stay informed and are now receiving our email newsletter.

At one point that morning, an African gentleman approached Allison and asked if she knew why ‘America’ was in Sudan. Sensing entrapment, Allison explained the mission work she and I would be doing in South Sudan. After some back and forth he said ‘America is there for the oil’ with a forceful tone. Allison was loving and explained that we were there to share God’s love. He then walked away.

Because of our passion for the people of Southern Sudan, and my patriotism, my soul was injured while watching this exchange between Allison and the African. It truely feels like a spiritual attack.

I will always steer clear of any political talk as our ministry has nothing to do with that and desires to work with the Sudanese people, no matter the politcal situation. But I wanted to share the true disinformation that is spread among people and what it can do to rip people apart. As many of you know, there’s a lot going on right now with the CPA and it’s a very tense time. I just read an article today that quoted the President of Sudan, talking to the military, saying that the west only wants to be involved b/c they want the resources in the South and then goes on to say “Those Americans, those British, and those Europeans are not keen about the people of Darfur, or the people of southern Sudan or the Sudanese people.” Wow, that hurt. There are so many people, just in Dallas, who are specifically working in Darfur and other areas of Sudan to help the people. NONE of them have an alterior motive such as oil or any other financial reason.

This cuts deap into our hearts and those doing work in Sudan. I would ask that you would pray for the spiritual battle which has already started for Allison and I.

The Southern government SPLM has pulled out of the unity government today. Please be in prayer for continued peace and implimentation of the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement).

Read about it:
Al Jazeera
BBC News

Update:
It appears the SPLM has not pulled out of the government but the acting ministers (heads of government arms) were recalled back to Juba, the Southern capital, to evaluate the implimentation of the CPA and brief them on some new SPLM government officials. In effect, this ‘recall back to Juba’ is a withdrawl from the unity government.

More Links:
Sudan Tribune
New Sudan Vision

You might have received an email recently from me that looked very similar to my web site. It was an eNewsletter by a service I’m using with Constant Contact. If you did not receive it, please sign up for it with the box to the right. Over time, this will save us a lot of funds and can be used more directly in our ministry on the field. We spend $100-200 dollars every time we send a mailing. So you can imagine how much that could save us over a year.

Monday we will send out our second letter. Our first letter focused on recoonecting with everyone and explaining our prayer and financial needs coming this summer. This letter will focus on explaining our long term needs and reach out to those who would like to contribute on a monthly or annual basis, long term.

We look forward to ministering together with you!

Please pray about how God might have you involved in our ministry and pray for others as they consider their involvement as well.

As many of you know, Allison grew up in Tulsa. Her whole life she attended Tulsa’s downtown First United Methodist Church, a very conservative Methodist church compared to what I’m used to in Dallas. Her family history at the church extends back a few generations when her grandfather was supported by them when they were doing missions in Kobe, Japan, where her father grew up.

Their missions board has asked that we submit an application for support from their church. Just last week over Easter weekend we had the opportunity to meet with their missions pastor and find out more about their missions focus and purpose. We wil be turning in the application for support in the next week and would ask for your prayers in how they might be involved in God’s mission for our work in Sudan.

As many of you know, Allison works at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in their World Missions department. Recently they invited us to come and speak at their monthly missions board meeting. Allison usually attends their meetings to take minutes and other administrative duties for the board. So I came at met her just before the board started their meeting. They asked a lot of great questions and got to really hear about our heart’s passions and discuss the kind of work we’ll be doing with SIM in Sudan. If you are a member at PCPC, I want you to know how much I appreciate sharing with your church and that they truely care for the work Allison and I will be doing.

As missinoaries, we have taken a big step forward. Yesterday we sent out our first support letter. Financially, we decided just to discuss our initial needs for this summer because they are so urgent. We will be sending a second later very soon detailing our long term needs. Most especially monthly support. Anyone who starts giving monthly right now can help us raise our “first time passage” (our initial flights onto the field, moving there, purchasing our initial needs, etc.).

Please pray that our letter is received well and that we are able to build a team of prayers. Also, that our financial support comes with little difficulty. It’s all in God’s hands. It’s at these times that we really learn to lean on Him.

We had planned on getting out our letter last week but have been delayed due to some clarifications needing to be made with the finance department with SIM. Please pray we can get this out soon as we are in immediate need to raise a good chunck of our funding before this summer. In June we will be attending a PILOT class that teaches us how to learn a second language and then in July we’ll be in Sudan for what some people may call a “Vision Trip” or Ministry Exposure Trip. Both of these events are very important.

Thank you for your prayers.

I’m glad you’ve found your way to our web site. We’re hoping to get out our first prayer/support letter in the coming week. This web site was just put together last night and I hope to have a video up on the home page so that you can get a feeling for our passion and desire to do God’s work overseas. Please make comments in this blog or feel free to email/call us to talk over coffee or dinner. We’d love to have you involved in our ministry if you feel inspired to do so.